Regulating-valve for water-heaters.



RBELER,

REGULATING VALVE FOR WATER HEATERS.

APPLlCATION FILED on. 7. I916.

L65 593 Patented May 7,1918

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. BELER.

REGUL ATING VALVE FOR WATER HEATERS.

Patented May 7 1918.

m m 7 u c 0 D E L n N 0 .H A c u P. P A

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses Aitorneyso v Anon BELEE, or rrr'rsnunen, rnmIsYLv a BEGULATINGJTALVE .FOR WATER-HEATERS.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ADOLF Bnnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Pittsbur h, in the county of Alleghenyand State of ennsylvania, have invented a new and ating-Valve for Water-Heatuseful Re ers, of WhlCh the following is a specification. I p

This invention relates to re valves for use in connection wit water heaters.

Heretofore it has been the practice touse, in connection with instantaneous water heaters, a pressu e operated valve adapted to be actuated when water is drawn off at the point of consumption, thereby to operate a gas controlling valve so that the as will be turned on and'the water quic y heated. While astructure such as described has usually been found .eflicient,

there have been times when the pressure operated valve has not properly worked and, consequently, the gas has not always been turned off automatically when the flow of water from. the heater has ceased. Consequently steam has often been generated in the heater with the result that explosions have occurred, wrecking the heating apparatus and endangering the lives of persons nearby.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means for automatically controlling the flow ofgas tothe burner of an instantaneous heater without depending on a-pressure controlled valve but, instead, dependin on a thermostatically controlled valve an which valve will open automatically when fresh cold water isdirected into its controlling thermostat as'a result of the opening of the faucet or other outlet valve connected to the heater.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that chan es in the precise embodiment of the invent1on herein disclosed, can be made within the scopeof what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.'

In the 'accom ferred form o the mvention has been;

shown.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. statically controlled valves. ating anying drawings the preo In said drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of an instantaneous waterheater embodyin the present improvements, a portion t ereof being Fig.2 is an enlarged view partly in section and partly in elevation of the thermo- Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the casing of the heater, there 'bein a suitable arrangement of burners 2 in the lower portion thereof whereby the coil-3 may be quickly heated. The up er convolution of the coil is connected yv a pipe 4 to the u per end' of ahollow thermostat member 5 rom the lower end of which extends an outflow 'pipe 6..

This hollow thermostat member has a high coefficient of expansion and is provided with a longitudinal recess 7 in which is loosely mounted a rod 8 of porcelain or I Patented May't', 1918. i Application and October 7, 1913. 8erla1No.124,846.

other material having a low coefiicient of I expansion. This rod or thermostat member 8 has an extension 9 at its upper end provided with a knife edge '10 and said extension projects between u standin wings 11 on the thermostat mem er 5' an which wings are connected by a knife edge 12. Bearing downwardly on the knife edge 10 is a lever 13 and'this lever also extends under and engages the knife edge 12, suitable notches being provided in the lever for the reception of the respective knife edges as shown in Fig. 2. .Lever 13 extends substantially horizontally from the thermostat and is then, bent downwardly to form an arm 14 and this arm extends back of the upper short arm 15 of an intermediate 1ever 16 which is preferably fulcrumed, as at 17, between ears 18 outstanding from the thermostat member 5. An adjusting screw 19 is carried by the short arm 15 of this intermediate lever and engages the arm 14: of the lever 13.

The thermostat member 5 is preferably secured to a-supporting plate 20 and on this late is pivotally mounted a weighted latch 21 located between the thermostat member 5 and the intermediate lever 16. This lever has a lug 22 extending from toward the latch and constitutes a ,Qfor the latch when said latch is shifted filling position as hereanafter described. -.Suitably connected to the plate 20-is an-. oer hollow thermostat member 23 havthereclass, while lever 16 is a lever of the first class.

Secured preferably to the plate 20 1s a having opposed valve seats 39 an ing a high coefiicient of expansion and loosely connected to the'thermostat member is a rod 23 of "porcelain or other material having a low coefficient of expansion. This thermostat member or rod 23 has an extension 24 provided with a knife edge 25 and the thermostat member 23 has upwardly extending wings 26 connected in a knife over the edge 27. A lever 28 is extende kmfe edge 25 andunder the knife edge 27 and is provided with notches for the recep-' tion of the respective knife edges.

lever extends beyond the thermostat mem- This her and is bent to form a downwardly ex tending arm 29. An intermediate lever 30 i pivotally mounted as at 31 between ears 32 outstanding from the thermostat member 23 and this lever has an adjusting screw 33 located close to its fulcrum and engaging the arm 29. Lever 30 is extended toward the lever 16 and is a lever of the third adapted to be actuated by the lower end of the lever 16. A spring 43 is mounted on the stem 42 and operates to hold 'valve 41 normally pressed toward the seat 40, although it is to beunderstood that when the valve is moved against the action of its spring it can be brought onto the seat 39. When the valve is in either of these positions the flow offuel' from the pipe35 into the lower portion of the casing 34 will be stopped.

A vent 44 opens into the port 38 between the seats and 39 and communicates with a pipe 45 which extends to a pilot burner 46. Thus it will be seen that when valve 41 engages its seat 39, the flow of gas to the pilot burner is cut 06', whereas when the valve 41 engages the seat 40, the flow of gas to the pilot may continue although the flow of gas to the lower portion of the easing 34 is out 06.

A partition 47 is arranged in the lower portion of the casing 34 and is provided with a port 48 adapted to be closed by a valve 49. This valve has a stem 50 slidably mounted in the wall of the casing 34 and normally contacting with the upper end of the lever 30. A spring 51 is arranged in the casing and constitutes means for pressing the valve 49 yieldinglv onto its seat.

Opening into the lower portion of the hollow thermostat member 23 is a water supply pipe 52 and opening into the hollow thermostat member 23 at a point near the center thereof is the lower convolution of the coil 3, the port in communication with said con- .volution being indicated by dotted lines at in thetubes 56 will be heatedslightly above the normal temperature thereof and a circulation will thus be established through the tubes 56 and 58 and the hollow thermostat member 23. As long as this circulation is taking place, the thermostat member 23 will be held expanded and knife edge 27 will be elevated relative to knife edge 25 with the result that arm 29 will offer no resistance to lever 30 and, consequently, spring 51 will hold the valve 49 onto its seat, thus preventing the flow of gas to the burners 2. The waste heat will also tend to maintain the contents of the coil 3' at a slightly raised temperature and, therefore, 12 will be held away from the knife edge 10 and spring 43 will be free to hold valve 41 away from its seat 39 but not in contact with the seat 40. Therefore gas will be free to flow to the pilot burner and also into the lower portion of the casing 34 but will be stopped by the valve 49 from flowing into the pipe 36. When it is desired to remove the knife edge hot water from the apparatus the faucet connected to the pipe 6 is opened and a circulation of fresh Water is immediately set her 23 and thencethrough port 53 into the coil 3 from which it will flow outwardly through pipe 4 into the thermostat member 5 and thence into the pipe 6 to'the faucet. As soon as the cold water enters-the thermostat member 23, said member will be caused to contract so that knife edge 27 will pull downwardly on lever 28 and cause the arm 29 to press against the screw 33. Consequently lever 30 will thrust against the stem 50 and unseat the valve 49. Therefore gas will be free to flow to the burners 2 where it will be ignited by the pilot flame. As long as cold water is entering the thermostat member 23 up through pipe 52 into the thermostat memdue to the outflow of water at the faucet, I

valve 49 will be maintained in open position. However, as soon as the dew of water is stopped, a circulation of hot water through the member 23 and the tubes 56 and 58 will begin and, consequentl the thermostat members 23 and 23 wi shift relative to each other so asto ermits of gas and thereby reduce 41 against its from seat 39. This pilot.

ample to allow the gas to plring 51 to reseat the valve 49and ut ofi t e flow of gas to the, burners 2: During the outflow of water from the apparatus the heated water leaving the coil passesthrough the thermostat members and thus causes the knife edge 12 to move upwardly relative to the knife edge 10 with the result that valve 41 will-be shifted under the action of its spring 43 toward seat 40, thus to partly cut ofi the flow the size of the flame at the burners 2.' This automatic shifting'of valve 41 will maintain the temperature of the water uniform. If, at any time, the flames at the burner 2 and also at the pilot 46 should be extinguished accidentally, then the thermostat member 5 would contract below thev normal degree of contraction and would 'cause arm 14 to thrust against the upper arm of lever 15 thereby to ull valve seat 39 and out o the flow of gas not only to the pipe 36 but also to the When it is desired to start the apparatus after valve 41 has been moved to its seat 39, it is necessary first to press lever 16 toward the casing 34 to-move valve 41 away movement of lever 16 can be efiected by turning latch 21 until the point of the latch comes against the stop lug 22 as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The pressure of the lever a ainst the latch will 'be sufiicient to hold it frictionally. This slight displacement of the valve will be H flow into the pipe 45 and to the pilot so that the fuel can be ignited at the pilot burner and, as the water in the coil 3 becomes slightly tempered by the heat ascending from the pilot burner, the lever 13 will be shifted and allow lever 16 to move under the action of the spring 43 so that the latch 21 will be ultimately released and will gravitate to its normal position. The shifting of lever 16 by the latch 21 to open valve 41 is having lever 16 slightly resilient screw 19 to permit a slight lever about its pivot.

permitted by movement of the let valve between its seats or by rotating It will be apparent that by providing valve controlling means such as described, it becomes unnecessary to use any reciproeating or other valves operated by fluid under pressure and which valves, as before stated, often become caught so as to interfere withthe proper operation of the mechanism. Instead the operation of the gas valves is dependent 'entlrely upon the temperature of the water flowing to and through the apparatus. -What is claimed is 1. A water heater comprising a burner, a fuel conduit including a valve casin lead ing to the burner, an inlet valve in t e casing, there being seats between which the valve oscillates, an outlet valve in the casing,

a water heating coil, thermostatic means through which the water passes tothe intake of said coil for operating the outlet valve to supply fuel to the burner, and independent thermostatic means for oscillating the into regulate the burner.

supply .of fuel to the comprisin 2. A water heater, a burner,

' and a pilot burner associated t erewith, a

fuel condult 1n ing to the burner, ing, there being seats valve normally stands,

luding a valve casin leadan inlet valve in t e casbetween which the ADOLF BELER.

Witnesses R. A. Tnoor, I Faun B. Fianna.

an outlet valve the casing, a water heating coil, thermostatic hereto afiixed my slgnaturef 

